ST. LOUIS (Interstat) — Matt McLain hit two home runs, but the St. Louis Cardinals answered with a three-run fifth inning and a two-run eighth inning to defeat the Cincinnati Reds 5-3 on Sunday afternoon at Busch Stadium III.

McLain put Cincinnati ahead 1-0 in the third inning with a solo homer to center field, his seventh of the season. Tyler Stephenson followed with another solo shot to right field, giving the Reds a 2-0 lead. Edwin Arroyo singled later in the inning but was stranded, and Cincinnati led 2-0 after three innings.

Reds starter Rhett Lowder pitched three scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out four, keeping the Cardinals off the board early. The Reds added to their lead in the seventh when McLain hit his second home run of the game, an eighth-inning solo shot to center. That made it 3-0, but the Cardinals mounted their comeback.

St. Louis broke through in the fifth inning. Alec Burleson doubled to left field, then Jordan Walker doubled to center to drive in Burleson, cutting the lead to 3-1. After Lars Nootbaar struck out, Bryan Torres hit a two-run homer to right field, scoring Walker and tying the game 3-3.

The game remained tied until the bottom of the eighth inning, when a series of defensive miscues by Cincinnati proved decisive. With one out, Jose Fermin singled and Nelson Velazquez singled to put runners at first and second. Victor Scott II then reached on a fielder’s choice, with Fermin scoring on a throwing error by Reds pitcher Sam Moll, giving St. Louis a 4-3 lead. Moll’s error also allowed Velazquez to advance to third and Scott to second. J.J. Wetherholt walked to load the bases, and Ivan Herrera reached on a fielding error by shortstop Matt McLain, allowing Velazquez to score and making it 5-3. The Cardinals loaded the bases again but could not add more, as Alec Burleson grounded into a force out at home and Jordan Walker grounded into another force out at home to end the inning.

Reds reliever Tony Santillan pitched a scoreless sixth inning, and Caleb Ferguson pitched a scoreless seventh with one strikeout. But the eighth-inning unraveling cost Cincinnati the game.

In the ninth, the Reds mounted a threat. Stephenson doubled to right field with one out, but Edwin Arroyo lined out to center and Blake Dunn flew out to center to end the game.

Ryne Stanek earned the win for St. Louis, improving to 2-0 on the season. He pitched one inning of relief in the top of the eighth, striking out one and allowing no hits. Sam Moll took the loss, falling to 1-5, after allowing two unearned runs in two-thirds of an inning. Riley O’Brien earned his 17th save of the season, pitching a scoreless ninth inning.

McLain finished 2-for-4 with two home runs and two RBIs. Stephenson was 3-for-4 with a double, a home run and two runs scored. Nathaniel Lowe was 2-for-3 with two singles. Blake Dunn was 1-for-5, and Dane Myers was 1-for-1 as a pinch-hitter. Sal Stewart was 0-for-4, Spencer Steer was 0-for-4, and Will Benson was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.

For St. Louis, Torres had two RBIs on his home run. Walker drove in a run and doubled. Scott II drove in a run on a fielder’s choice. Burleson had a double and scored a run. Wetherholt walked twice and struck out once. The Cardinals had six hits in total.

The attendance was 31,335. The game lasted 2 hours, 41 minutes.

The win gave St. Louis a 35-28 record, while Cincinnati fell to 31-33. The Cardinals took two of three games in the series, following a 6-5 win Saturday and a 10-3 win Friday. The Reds had won the previous meeting between the two teams, 7-6 on May 23 in Cincinnati.

Cincinnati next travels to San Diego for a three-game series beginning Monday. St. Louis heads to New York to face the Mets on Tuesday.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of St. Louis 5, Cincinnati 4. The ELO system gave St. Louis a 56.20 percent probability to win. St. Louis was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total of eight runs went over the over/under line of 8.5.